As more particularly recited below, the present invention relates to antitumor septacidin analogs. The closest prior art of which applicants are aware is U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,647 issued Nov. 3, 1964 to Dutcher et al. which discloses septacidin and other of its analogs. However, those compounds so disclosed which are otherwise similar to those of the present invention differ therefrom in that they have a mono- or polyhydroxyalkyl group attached at C.5 to the ring comprising the sugar moiety rather than the methyl group which characterizes the compounds of the present invention. While the compounds of the Dutcher et al. patent are disclosed as having physiological activity and utility as fungicides, the literature discloses that said compounds also have antitumor characteristics.
While the compounds of the Dutcher et al. patent were produced by fermentation, those of the present invention were prepared by a synthetic route. The general approach employed was to start with the sugar, construct on to it the adenine moiety, and attach the fatty acid-amino acid chain last.